Winners & Losers: Matt Abbott, Hopkins' Middies and Preseason Polls

The Champion Challenge is in the books, which means the college lacrosse season is right around the corner.

Just a few days, in fact, Delaware will host High Point and Furman will start its program against Lehigh. Check out the IL staff's winners and losers for the week.

Winners

Zach Babo (@ZachBabo)

Garrett Thul — There is a lot to like with the story of Garrett Thul potentially earning his way off the bubble and onto Team USA’s 30-man roster. It’s fun to root for the guys fresh out of college trying to make their first team, and when that college is West Point and we’re talking about a guy who has talked of future plans to be an Army Ranger or the like, it sure feeds some nationalistic pride. But Thul has legitimately earned a good look from this coaching staff after solid play in summer tryouts and a great showing in the Champion Challenge. He is big, powerful, has a booming shot, and seems to be doing all the little things well. He rides hard. He gets after loose balls. And he plays physical, never backing down from a defender and willingly laying some hits of his own. I wouldn’t want to have to whittle down the USA roster among so much talent, but if Thul makes the cut, I won’t argue with that selection.

Geoff Shannon (@Geoff_Shannon)

The Face-Off — I’m intrigued that the position popped up as a point of emphasis for both Georgetown and Hofstra this past week in early season scrimmages. Pride freshman Kris Clarke finished 33-of-45 against Syracuse and Le Moyne Saturday, while teammates Connor Horl went 10 of 13 and sophomore Giovanni Girardi grabbed 2-4. In the Hopkins-G'Town scrimmage, meanwhile, veteran longpole face-off man Tyler Knarr dominated against the Blue Jays (though top JHU FOGO Drew Kennedy reportedly didn’t suit up). Those performances are good omens for their respective programs. Good face-off play and crucial possession time could be just the ticket to help push the Hoyas and the Pride back into Top 20 contention.

Matt Kinnear (@MattKinnear)

The Unheralded Stars — It’s good to see Matt Abbott and Joe Fletcher get so much praise for their hard work and solid play. They’ve both been hugely integral pieces to their teams, but they’ve never quite gotten the attention they deserved. Both players are shining on the Team USA stage, and people are taking notice. Abbott isn’t flashy, he’s not a big numbers guy, but he’s one of the most valuable players in the game. Ask Chesapeake Bayhawks coach Dave Cottle about him. And Fletcher: He’s not a big, bruising defender or one who makes flashy plays with the longpole, but he’s the most important player on this year’s Loyola team. The fact that he’s the only college player in the running for Team USA shows his value.

Terry Foy (@TerenceFoy)

MJ Kiekebelt — The former RIT player and assistant will be a nice late addition to coach Matt Kerwick’s staff. One thing numerous DII, DIII and club coaches have told me over the years is how difficult it is to break into DI coaching without DI experience, so it’s a victory for Kiekebelt to even get on a staff, much less at an Ivy League school coming off a Final Four appearance. (Similarly, it’s a win for Cornell to get a young, relatable coach that addresses a need system-wise and comes from a nearby, academically-minded place.) With the uncertainty regarding Kerwick’s interim status, there’s obviously some risk in terms of job security, but the move might pay off for Kiekebelt regardless of what the future holds.

John Jiloty (@JJiloty)

Matt Abbott — He’s a guy that every coach and player loves; everyone I spoke to at the U.S. Team tryouts last summer mentioned him first as a player who stood out during the weekend at Goucher College. If Quint continues to blow him up as the best player on the planet (as he did during and after Sunday’s Blue-White U.S. Team scrimmage in Florida), he’ll get plenty of attention this summer. But it’s all deserving for this dynamic do-it-all middie who has never really gotten a ton of attention — Abbott looked great Sunday and will be a crucial weapon for Team USA in Denver.

Casey Vock (@cvock)

Buffalo Bandits — The 2014 National Lacrosse League season has been awesome so far. This past weekend, Banditland was treated to a solid game between the Buffalo Bandits and the Rochester Knighthawks. The game resulted in an 11-10 win for the Bandits, a team that has had some question marks in the last few seasons. But this year, this team looks LEGIT. And they would have to be to come out of the gate and get all over the Knighthawks the way they did early in the contest. It’s a rivalry that you can really only understand if you’ve been to a game at either of these locations. It’s pure insanity. I think this just sets up for three more great battles between these two squads this season, but it certainly shows that the Bandits are a better team than we’ve seen in the last few seasons. One of the league’s oldest, it’s fun to see them looking so strong again. John Tavares needs to be put on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Losers

Zach Babo (@ZachBabo)

Hopkins Midfield — I want to preface this comment by saying I saw one scrimmage, in less than ideal conditions, with no score or stats being recorded, all while shooting pictures of the action instead of watching from a press box....but what I took away from the Hopkins vs. Georgetown scrimmage last Thursday was a Hopkins midfield that looks like it will have to defer to the attack more often than not. Sure the Jays have some talented players there, and I think a guy like Rob Guida would probably get more press if he was 6-foot-2, 190 pounds instead of 5-9, 170, but other than Guida I didn’t see too many guys that look like they can generate a ton of movement off the dodge. I know coach Bob Benson has been running some new offensive sets that may attack teams differently, but after the succession of AJ Haugen beget Kyle Harrison beget Paul Rabil beget John Ranagan/Greeley, it stood out not seeing a big horse at the midfield attacking the alley.

Geoff Shannon (@Geoff_Shannon)

Consensus — So, the rankings came out Monday and the Warrior DI Men’s Media Poll has Duke on top, while the coaches’ poll nudges Syracuse to the top after some split scores with the first-place votes. Like the Orange, Duke and UNC also received four first-place votes. The head man who voted for Maryland could have broken this strange scenario, but alas. Part of me likes it that the top of the Division I board is hazy going into 2014. It means there are surprises in store, and many kings will be crowned between now and Memorial Day. A strong, focused narrative going into the first weekend of the season would have been nice, but I’ll enjoy as chaos reigns for a bit.

Matt Kinnear (@MattKinnear)

FOGOS — I’m using the same loser twice in a row. Face-off guys came under attack again this weekend. First, the Syracuse Post-Standard quoted John Desko and his thoughts on face-of guys. Then, Quint Kessenich has been criticizing their role on ESPNU and on Twitter. Both bring up good points, but I disagree. A great face-off specialist is an equalizer, someone who can give an underdog a chance to knock off the top dog. I saw in person Tom Croonquist at Villanova dominate Syracuse, and the Wildcats earn that win. That made what could have been a sleepy evening game one of the most exciting of that week. They’re a part of the game, they add a different element to our game, and they’re here to stay.

Terry Foy (@TerenceFoy)

Nicky Galasso — The extent of his injury isn’t clear (and it may end up being that he doesn’t miss any significant time), but I hope we can all agree that a player suffering three distinct injuries in a three-year window is a bummer regardless of the severity of the third.

John Jiloty (@JJiloty)

Anyone who doesn’t have Face-Off Yearbook — We went all-digital with this 2014 edition of the yearbook, and the response has been great so far. Best part is, we’re about to push a monster update with new schedules and roster information. So for the first time, your Face-Off Yearbook will be completely updated when the season drops this weekend. We culled through every team’s roster and schedule and updated all the information into the app (available for smartphones and tablets via iTunes, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore), so you’ll have up-to-the-minute information now that the season is upon us. One of the beautiful things of digital publishing is we’re not hamstrung by a print deadline that was two months ago, before schedules and rosters were changed.

Casey Vock (@cvock)

Teams Lacking a Native American Presence — I’m repeating myself to some degree, but I can’t help but believe college teams with an Iroquois presence are just that much more fun to watch and probably more fun to be a part of. Watching the Team USA event, the talent is incredible, but as some have pointed out, the pace of play was very deliberate and fairly predictable at times. It made me optimistic for a chance to watch the high-flying Iroquois Nationals at the FIL World Lacrosse Championships. But I don’t have to wait that long: Albany, Syracuse, Denver, Hobart and Virginia could all embody elements of this style of play — without question, Albany plays this way all the time. In my opinion, there’s not better time for lacrosse given the concentration of Iroquois players in the college ranks. Looking at the college teams without these players, I don’t think it hurts them, but I think they miss out on a bit of a boost from not only this playing style, but also the effect of having these guys as teammates. As a lot of coaches told me during my research for the February feature on the Thompsons, these guys have a greater respect for the game and play it the way it’s meant to be played, and that can carry over to their teammates. I see that at Albany, where in the last couple seasons the Thompsons’ teammates developed greater confidence and I would say now understand the game more deeply.